Thousands mourn girls in Pakistan church attack

Three girls were buried amid anger and tears yesterday after being blown apart during a Christmas Day service when a bag of grenades was lobbed through the door of their village church in Pakistan.

Several thousand mourners, many times the usual size of the congregation, gathered as the coffins of the girls – aged six, 10 and 15 – were carried to a cemetery for burial.

As they did so, a search was under way for those who carried out the attack and, particularly, for two people who disguised themselves in women's "burqas" before walking up to the church and tossing the bombs into the midst of the congregation.

Survivors of the assault, the fifth deadly attack on Pakistan's Christian minority this year, painted a horrifying picture of a service turned into bloody, terrifying chaos by a blast that killed two of the girls instantly, decapitating one of them.

"I was praying when two youngsters threw a shopping bag into the congregation," said Fazeelat James, a 21-year-old woman who was among 14 injured, several of whom have severe burns. "Something exploded and I fell down."

Iris Aslam said that just before the attack she left the Protestant church – which is at Chianwala, 40 miles north-west of Lahore. Back home, not far from the church, she heard a blast, followed by screams.

"I ran towards the church... I saw children, girls and men bleeding, and crying in pain." She saw her husband, Pervez, lying on the ground, writhing in pain. "He said that two youngsters had thrown a grenade."

Reports yesterday said that about 40 people, mostly women and children, had been inside the church at the time of the blast, which took the death toll from attacks on Christians to more two dozen this year.

It was three months since gunmen burst into the offices of a Christian welfare organisation in Karachi, tied seven staff to their chairs and shot each through the head.

The military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, condemned the attack. He has angered extremist Islamist elements by supporting the US in its efforts to round up al-Qa'ida and Taliban fighters. Attacks on Christians have been linked by some to an anti-Western mood.

Law enforcement agencies rounded up several people for questioning, including a Muslim cleric who, according to a police official, made a sermon several days earlier calling on Muslims to kill Christians.

Police officials pointed a finger at Jaish-e-Mohammed – "The Army of Mohammed", a militant group fighting to end Indian rule in Kashmir – although the group denied any involvement with the attack.

Questions were being asked yesterday about the church guard, who is said to have failed to turn up for work on the day of the bombing. And in the capital Islamabad, security officials found a shopping bag containing two grenades about 100 yards from St Thomas's, a Protestant church.